42 THE BEE AS A A INSECT. _ [Ch. r. 



To the testimonies already cited we will now add 

 that of the late Mr. Woodbury. The following is ex- 

 tracted from the paper contributed by him to the Ba(k 

 and West of England Agricultural "jPournal : " From my 

 strongest Ligurian stock I took eight artificial swarms 

 in the spring, besides depriving it of numerous brood- 

 combs. Finding, in June, that the bees were col- 

 lecting honey so fast that the queen could not find an 

 empty cell in which to lay an egg, I was reluctantly 

 compelled to put on a super. When this had been filled 

 with thirty-eight pounds of the finest honeycomb,* I 

 removed it, and as the stock hive (a very large one) 

 could not contain the multitude of bees which issued 

 from it, I formed them into another very large artificial 

 swarm. The foregoing facts speak for themselves ; but 

 as information on this point has been very generally 

 asked, I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the 

 Ligurian honey bee infinitely superior in every respect 

 to the only species that we have hitherto been acquainted 

 with." 



The chorus of praise is not however universal. Most 

 noticeable is the broad divergence of views between the 

 two greatest apiarians of Germany — Dr. Dzierzon and 

 Baron von Berlepsch. The former pronounces this bee 

 less given to stinging, less sensitive of cold, more prolific, 

 earlier in brood-raising and swarming, forwarder also in 



* This super was exhibited at our stand in the International 

 Exhibition of 1862. 



